


Don't Try to Fix Things

by yastaghr



Series: Scribbling is its own Language - Oneshots [24]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Swapfell (Undertale), Bad Days, Brotherly Affection, Brotherly Bonding, Burgers - Freeform, Dogs, Found Family, Gen, Mild Hurt/Comfort, No Romance, Platonic Relationships, Swapfell Papyrus (Undertale), Swapfell Sans (Undertale)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-27
Updated: 2020-08-27
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:54:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26145220
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yastaghr/pseuds/yastaghr
Summary: Slim's day starts off badly, so he decides to spend some brotherly bonding time with Sans.
Relationships: Papyrus & Sans (Undertale)
Series: Scribbling is its own Language - Oneshots [24]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/667640
Comments: 4
Kudos: 18





	Don't Try to Fix Things

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TheSinBubble](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSinBubble/gifts).



> This is the raffle fic for TheSinBubble! I did this raffle for reaching 100 followers on Twitter. 
> 
> Also, I'm going to try and come out of Hiatus. I'm still dealing with my back and neck, but now I'm on a different medicine that allows me to actually function :P Hopefully it will help!

The minute Slim woke up he knew that today was going to be horrible. He already had a headache that was pounding away at his stamina. It wasn’t a migraine, but it was damned close. He sat up immediately… and promptly fell off of the bed. He had been right on the edge and that little bit of motion had destabilized him. 

He picked himself up off the floor with a sigh and trudged over to the closet. There he found his boots and slipped them on. He’d fallen asleep in his clothes again, so he didn’t need to change into a new set. 

He did, however, need to change his boots, because he’d put these ones on the wrong feet this first time. That had torn the sides of his right boot and the laces on his left one. Now they were completely ruined. This day was off to a great start. At least he had his old pair that he could wear out to buy a new set.

The next thing that happened to him was at breakfast. Razz had made his meal ahead of time, but of course Slim had to drop it and scatter it all over the floor. Then, when he tried to remake it, he burnt it. He was lucky that he didn’t set off the fire alarm. Oh - too late. The alarm blared overhead and jarred his nerves. Then the sprinklers let loose on him, dropping a ton of water and quickly drenching him to the bone. He sighed, schlepped over to the alarm panel, and shut it off. Then he turned around and got to work on cleaning up the mess.

When the water and burnt food was finally clean Slim sighed. He didn’t have the energy to try and cook again. He just didn’t trust himself out in public yet and he definitely didn’t trust himself to be alone. Where could he go? Razz was at class and would be all day today. He needed to be around someone else, but who?

Instantly a skull floated into his mind’s eye. It was the monster he considered just as close as his brother, if not moreso. This skeleton had been the first friend he had ever made on the Surface, but he was more than that. He’d brought good food for Slim and Razz to eat when they were sick with the flu. He’d taught Slim about the way the human government worked - especially those bits that involved paperwork, which was pretty much all of it. He’d introduced Slim to the world of pranks. He’d even helped him find a pet cemetery that was sunny and full of grass for Razz to put their old pets’ ashes into.

Slim nodded his head. Yes, going to see Sans was the best thing he could do today. Time for a shortcut!

* * *

When Sans felt the puff of air from behind him that signalled an arriving teleport he immediately knew who it was. Leaving aside the fact that he recognized Slim’s magic, the monster he considered another brother was the only one available today who could do that. Stretch was at therapy today, working on his aggression; Red was holed up at the library and would be for hours; and Money was working, as if he were ever doing anything else. That left Slim.

Sans waved over his shoulder at Slim but didn’t turn. He was watching TV in an aimless sort of way, not really paying attention to what was happening on the screen. His mind was wandering just as aimlessly from topic to topic, not really focusing enough on anything to really have it count as thinking. 

When Slim came around the couch into his view Sans couldn’t help but study him. He looked haggard, overwhelmed, and slightly damp. Sans made an educated guess that Slim had had a rough morning. He was probably here to destress, and Sans knew exactly what he needed to be able to do that. Slim was the kind of monster who needed quiet. When the world grew too much for him Slim retreated into himself. Talking it out didn’t ever help him, and most of the “proper” coping mechanisms that Sans knew just made things worse. That was okay. If he was given enough time to himself, with no talking or thinking, Slim would eventually calm down on his own.

Sans finished studying Slim and nodded towards the spot on the couch next to him. Slim’s immediately grateful face and quick steps told him that Sans had picked right. Slim sat down with a huff of expelled air that dripped with relief. He had so much momentum when he flopped down that the ripple effect on the couch cushions bounced Sans up and down quite a bit.

HIs eternal grin widened just a bit. That was kind of fun. Maybe later, when Slim was feeling better, he could initiate a bounce war on the couch. No, screw that, he’d take Slim out to the trampoline Papyrus had gotten for Frisk’s 11ish birthday party and have a proper bounce war.

Sans turned his attention back to the TV, but he kept note of how Slim was doing out of the corner of his eye. Slim seemed to be watching the TV with him, but his hands were fidgeting constantly. Sans couldn’t see what they were doing, but he guessed that Slim was either twinning his thumbs or wringing his hands. Either way it showed more nerves than Sans liked, but at least it was calming down as time went by. Three and a half shows had passed before Slim finally stopped fiddling. Sans did a quick mental calculation. He wasn’t watching live TV, so, because there were no commercials interfering with the timeline, each episode was about 45 minutes. That meant it had taken Slim nearly three hours to calm down. That was a new short record! Usually it took at least four and a half, maybe five hours. Sans was so proud of him!

The whole time Sans hadn’t said a word, but now he felt it would be okay to say something. He turned to face slim and said, “so, slim. i’ve got leftovers from grillby’s. burger or fries?”

The other started and turned to face him with wide eye sockets. Sans kept up his smile. That question did kind of come out of the blue. Slim settled down, though, and thought about the question for a little bit. Sans could almost see the thoughts as they crossed his face. He thought about salt levels, carb ratios, protein, his own hunger level, their origin, their age… after that Sans was only guessing, but he knew Razz was trying to get Slim to be less hyper conscious of his food intake, so he was probably thinking about that. Eventually he held up three sheepish fingers. 

Sans’ grin was wide and held pride and amusement in equal measure. “you want both? dunno, bud. it’s only like i’ve got five of the things in the fridge. i think losing one of them might really slim down my supplies unbearably. just kidding. i love to share. you want bbq sauce with that?”

The vehement nod that shook the couch was gratifying. Sans stood up, stretched, and ambled into the kitchen to get their food. He came back with two paper bags and two condiment bottles, one red and one brown. He handed the newer bag of food to Slim along with the brown bottle and took his own food and drink back to the other end of the couch. They ate in silence. At least, they were silent. The TV was still blaring away, and they were watching it as they ate. 

It was maybe two or three hours later that Slim stood up. Sans saw it in the periphery of his vision and turned to look at Slim fully. After a quick appraisal he nodded. Slim looked a heck of a lot better than he had when he first showed up. The tension in his bones, skull, and magic had all eased tremendously. Sans figured he was ready to head out and face the world again. He waved his brother’s alternative out of the door, not bothering to stand. Once Slim was out and the door was closed Sans turned back to the TV. 

* * *

Slim gently shut the door to their apartment and turned around to see his only monster roommate: his brother, Razz. Razz was sitting on their couch with his left leg crossed over his right. Their only other roommate, Popcorn the Wheaten Terrier, was laying next to Razz and looked quite happy to be petted. Slim noted that he needed to schedule a grooming appointment sometime soon before turning his attention back to Razz. His brother had lines on his skull that spoke of an equal measure of amusement and ire. Slim smiled cheekily back at him. Now it was just a contest to see who would blink first.

It seemed that was going to be Razz today. He turned his skull away from Slim’s cheeky smile, hiding his own amused one in his hands. He coughed and faced Slim once more. “VERY WELL, BROTHER. CAN YOU TAKE A GUESS AS TO WHAT POPCORN BROUGHT ME WHEN I CAME HOME TODAY?”

Slim looked around for a clue, but he spotted nothing. He shrugged and said, jokingly, “world peace?” Razz sighed and reached behind him. When his hand came back out it was holding up Slim’s destroyed boots. Slim winced. “ah, yeah. i probably should have thrown that out.”

Razz grinned. “PROBABLY. I HOPE YOU, AT THE VERY LEAST, SPENT THE TIME PROCURING A NEW PAIR?”

Slim reluctantly shook his head. “no, i, um, was hanging out at the tale brothers’ house today. those boots were just the tip of the iceberg, and the whole thing kinda overwhelmed me. i needed some good vibes, you know?”

Razz nodded slowly. “I UNDERSTAND. I DO, OF COURSE, EXPECT TO HEAR WHAT THESE OTHER THINGS WERE, BUT LATER. WHY DON’T YOU TELL ME WHAT YOU ATE FOR LUNCH FIRST? OR WERE YOU TOO DISTRACTED TO REMEMBER? I’LL GLADLY FIX YOU SOMETHING IF YOU DID. YOU KNOW I DON’T JUDGE ABOUT THAT.”

Slim grinned. “i know, bro. that’s what makes you so cool. if i’m being honest i have to tell you that sans was actually the one who remembered, not me. he let me have a leftover burg from grillby’s. that good enough for you?”

Razz nodded. “THAT IS ACCEPTABLE. I WOULD HAVE PREFERRED SOMETHING WITH LESS GREASE, BUT IT WILL DO. GRILLBY’S BURGERS ARE BETTER THAN MOST OF THE HUMAN ONES, AFTER ALL. AT LEAST HE BALANCES HIS FLAVOR PROFILES AND DOESN’T OVERLOAD THEM WITH CHEESE.”

“most of the grease had soaked into the bag, bro,” Slim said slyly.

Razz shuddered, just like Slim thought he would. Being Razz’s brother had its perks, like knowing exactly how to get under his skin. “I SINCERELY HOPE YOU DIDN’T EAT THE BAGS.”

Slim’s sly grin grew. “aw, bro, aren’t you always going on about me getting more fiber in my diet? i kid, i kid. we just ate the burgs.”

Razz huffed, but the way he was petting Popcorn told Slim that he was laughing internally. Good. Razz was the kind of monster that didn’t laugh out loud no matter what. Slim had tried everything, but nothing had done it. Then one of the others asked Razz why he didn’t laugh and he gave them a funny look. He explained that he was laughing, just not on the outside. After that Slim had started watching his brother closer so he could learn his tells.

“GOOD. NOW, COME INTO THE KITCHEN AND TELL ME ABOUT THE BEGINNING OF YOUR DAY. I WANT TO HELP YOU SORT THROUGH IT ALL,” Razz said as he stood up sharply.

Slim grinned as he followed him into the other room. “sure, bro. it all started when…”

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me on:
> 
> Pillowfort - https://www.pillowfort.social/Yastaghr  
> Tumblr - https://yastaghr.tumblr.com  
> Twitter - https://twitter.com/yastaghr * Most active


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